Argues that the Earth's deteriorating condition is man-made and outlines a way for the process to be reversed by rehabilitating the deserts using natural farming.

During germination, the most resistant stage of the life cycle - the seed - changes to the most sensitive stage, namely the seedling. Therefore, in desert plant species seed dispersal and subsequent germination in the optimum time an place place are particularly critical parameters. Discussed here are the ways and means by which desert plants have adapted through the course of evolution to their extreme environment. Two such strategies which have evolved are a) plants with relatively large and protected seeds which germinate when the chance of seedling survival is high and the risk relatively low or b) those with an opportunistic strategy: minute seeds which germinate after low rainfall under high risk for seedling survival if additional rain does not follow. Most species adopt a combination of the two mechanisms. Species have adapted both genotypically and phenotypically, both aspects of which are also discussed in this thorough text. The reader is provided with a good understanding of the complex influences on each seed traced through from initial development to germination stage regarding germination preparation and subsequent survival.

An undiscovered modern Argentinian classic, based on the tragic lives of the renowned Raúl Barón Biza (a wealthy politician and notorious writer) and his wife Rosa Clotilde Sabattini The Desert and Its Seed opens with a taxi ride to the hospital: Eligia’s face is disintegrating from acid thrown by her ex-husband while they signed divorce papers. Mario, her son, tries to wipe the acid from Eligia’s face, but his own fingers burn. What follows is a fruitless attempt to reconstruct Eligia’s face—first in Buenos Aires, thereafter in Milan. Mario, the narrator, becomes the shadow and witness of the reconstruction attempts to repair his mother’s outraged flesh. In this role, he must confront his own terrible existence and identity, both of which are bound to an Argentina he sees disintegrating around him. Based on a true, tragic family story, Jorge Barón Biza’s The Desert and Its Seed was rejected by publishers in Buenos Aires and was finally self-published in 1998, three years before the author committed suicide. Written in a captivating plain style with dark, bitter humor, The Desert and Its Seed has become a modern classic, published to enormous acclaim throughout the Spanish-speaking world and translated into many languages.

Looks at the history and uses of plants of the Sonoran Desert, including creosote, palm trees, mesquite, organpipe cactus, amaranth, chiles, and Devil's claw

Each message in this book comes from the heart of the author who has learned that it is not the circumstances of life, but the lies of the enemy, the father-of-lies, that has the power to destroy the human heart. This degrading process happens through deception-through subtle, negative, destructive beliefs of abandonment, shame, rejection, and condemnation. These oppressing beliefs, in turn, make a person feel guilty, hopeless, and worthless. It is an endless circle that leads nowhere. But, for each negative, destructive belief that bombards the mind there is an answer-Grace, Hope, and Worth through the Person of Jesus Christ, God's Son. The Perfect Father sent His only Son into the world to redeem those who believe from the deception of the father-of-lies. He sent the Spirit of Truth to lead those who are willing onto a new path of Truth that renews the mind and sets the captives of deception free. As a result, the believer has the opportunity to experience Peace, Joy, and Confidence in place of turmoil, depression, and fear. Instead of empty meaninglessness, there is the promise of a fulfilling Purpose. When one learns to follow the Truth, each seed that was sown in the desert starts to sprout, turning shame into Acceptance, abandonment into Belonging, condemnation into Honor, and rejection into Approval. "For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations" (Isaiah 61:11).

"These stories follow the author's life in reverse, from Israel in the 1950s to his experiences in the postwar Soviet Union and his childhood in Poland"--

Annual desert plant species of unrelated taxa in the Negev Desert of Israel have developed complementary sets of adaptations and survival strategies as ecological equivalents with physiological, morphological and anatomical resemblances, in the various stages of their life cycles. After 40 years of research in hot deserts Yitzchak Gutterman provides a comprehensive treatise of such adaptations and strategies. In doing so he covers the following topics: post-maturation primary seed dormancy, which prevents germination of maturing seeds before the summer; seed dispersal mechanisms with escape or protection strategies; cautious or opportunistic germination strategies; seedling drought tolerance. The day-length is an important factor in regulating flowering as well as the phenotypic plasticity of seed germination which is also affected by maternal factors.